Through the first two preseason games, Las Vegas Raiders fans have seen a lot more good than bad from rookie quarterback Fernando Mendoza. Of course, his pick-six against the Houston Texans stands out, but he has led two scoring drives and dealt with tons of drops from his receivers.
Most importantly, the young signal-caller has been impressing the coaching staff, and Klint Kubiak, offensive coordinator Andrew Janocko and quarterbacks coach Mike Sullivan are all excited about how he continues to grow. Whether he starts in Week 1 or not is a different story with many factors.
Mendoza has displayed poise and the ability to bounce back from mistakes early on, though, which is quite promising. His mental processing shines as he picks up the offense quickly, which allows him to anticipate and play on time, something that has been missing for the Raiders since Derek Carr.
And he's tossing darts across the middle of the field, silencing his doubters throw by throw.
Raiders' Fernando Mendoza is proving he can throw across the middle
Throwing to the middle of the field was one of the biggest concerns with Mendoza in the pre-draft process, along with adjusting to playing under center. According to PFF, Mendoza targeted the middle of the field on only 8% of his throws during his lone season at Indiana.
During the preseason, however, that has changed, and he is targeting the middle of the field with ease. It started during the game vs. the Arizona Cardinals. On the play below, he runs a play-action pass concept, anticipates the open window, and hits Benson for 19 yards.
Nice timing and anticipation from Mendoza here on the 19-yard rip to Benson. Splits the linebackers pic.twitter.com/bMylQYQAvV
— Marcus Johnson (@TheMarcJohnNFL) August 14, 2026
Later on in the same game, you saw him drive it to the middle of the field multiple times. On this play, Mendoza starts to the strong side of the field, but doesn’t like what he sees on the concept, and goes through his reads until he comes backside.
He then fires a laser between the zone coverage for a first down.
His best throw was in his last game vs. the Houston Texans. The Raiders are running a concept called Hank, which is a curl-and-flat route. This play usually works against Cover 2, which the Texans will be playing on defense.
Post-snap, the linebacker slides into the window of the curl route. However, Mendoza shows high-level anticipation, throws Jalen Nailor open, and gets the ball over the linebacker for an explosive play.
The first completion from Mendoza looks even better on film.
— Marcus Johnson (@TheMarcJohnNFL) August 21, 2026
Timing and anticipation with great placement. pic.twitter.com/yrypkgDroZ
These examples truly show that Mendoza can make every throw he is asked to make all over the field. Kubiak won’t have any limitations when designing plays, knowing he has the whole field at his disposal. Hopefully, it translates to the regular season and helps the Raiders win games.
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